Excerpt from History of the Consulate and the Empire of France Under Napoleon, Vol. 8 of 12 Napoleon prepares to march upon Wilna - Takes measures at Kowno to secure the possession of that town, and to make it the termination of his line of navigation - Movements of the various corps of the French army - M. De Balachoff sent by the Emperor Alexander to make a last attempt at reconciliation-the reasons which had in duced the Emperor of Russia to take this step - The Emperor Alexander and his staff - The Opinions prevalent in Russia relative to the conduct of the war - The system of retreat into the interior proposed by General Pfuhl - The opinions of Generals Barclay de Tolly and Bagration with respect to this system - On being informed of the arrival of the French, Alexander determines to retreat upon the Dwina to the camp of Drissa, and to send Prince Bagration with the second Russian army to the dnieperflentrance of the French into Wilna - Storms encountered during the march upon Wilna First sufferings - Many of the troops pursue from the very com mencement of the campaign a system of plunder - The difficulties attending the march and the supply of provisions induce Napoleon to determine upon a halt at Wilna - lnconveniences attending this halt - During this halt Napoleon sends Marshal Davout to his right to pursue Prince Ba gration, at this time separated from the principal Russian army - Reorganisation of the Lithuanian government - The formation of magazines, erection of ovens, and establishment of a police upon the routes - Interview between Napoleon and M. De Balachofi' - Operations of Marshal Davout on the right of Napoleon - Dangerous position of various Russian columns separated from the main body of their army - Bold march of General Davout upon Minsk - Finding himself in the presence of the army of Prince Bagration, many times more numerous than his own, Marshal Davout demands reinforcements - Napoleon, entertaining the pro ject of throwing himself upon Barclay de Tolly with the largest portion of his forces, refuses to afford to Marshal Davout the neces sary succour, and believes that he aids him sufficiently by urging Jerome's immediate junction with him - March of King Jerome from Grodno to Neswij - His involuntary delays - Napoleon, discontented with his proceedings, places him under the orders of Marshal Davout, and hurt at this measure, he quits the army - A loss of many days, during which Bagration succeeds in saving himself marshal Davout hastens in pursuit of him - Battle of Mohilew - Bagration, although vanquished, succeeds in retreating beyond the Dnieper - Napoleon having organised his commissariat, and left at Wilna a large por tion of his artillery and provisions. Determines to march against the principal Russian army under Barclay de Tolly - Insurrection of Poland - Reception of the Polish deputies - Napoleon's reserve with regard to them and its reasons - Departure of Napoleon for. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.